1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to motorized cutting devices having flexible cutting elements, and more particularly, to motorized cutting devices having their flexible cutting elements fabricated with cutting teeth disposed at predetermined intervals in a complete circle around the periphery of the cutting element.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. Nos. 325,364 (Shipe), 2,855,724 (Graves), 3,090,159 (Wimeerly), 3,747,652 (Meadows), and 323,602 (Shipe) disclose manually operated cutting devices fabricated from a plurality of chain links which include a plurality of cutting teeth on a single side of the chain. The chain disclosed in the above-recited patents is deflectable in a single plane and is similar in fabrication to a bicycle chain.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,332 (Dates) discloses a power driven saw which causes a cable having a plurality of cutting elements to rotate in a single direction in order to provide a cutting action.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,175,302 (Sallee), 789,512 (Waller), and 1,520,422 (Lind) disclose chain saw cutting devices having a generally U-shaped fram for supporting the cutting chain and for rotating the cutting chain in a single direction to provide cutting action.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,749,949 (De La Tramerye) discloses two "thin steel strips", or metal bands, with cutting teeth punched out of one side of the strips, said strips being twisted to form a spiral twisted saw.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,752,964 (Prusinski) discloses a flexible hand saw with cutting units attached to a cable. The cutting units have a cylindrical shape with a continuous sharp cutting edge around the cylindrical unit. The continuous cutting edge does not allow for particles to escape after being cut and clogs up with only a few uses.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,763 (by the same inventors of the present invention) discloses a power driven apparatus with a specific mechanism designed to produce an oscillating force and using flexible cutting elements identical to the ones required by the invention being presented herein. The apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,763, however, discloses a mechanism totally different to the one being disclosed by the present invention.